The crew of mechanics at Laub Automotive in west Hemet witnessed quite an entertaining wildlife encounter after a junk car was towed to a neighboring business in the Hemet Auto Center car-repair complex.

Theyâve encountered cats that crawled up into engine compartments. Theyâve witnessed the damage that chewing mice cause to electrical wires. Tuesday, Jan. 7, provided a first. When the hood of the sedan was lifted, an opossum menacingly snarled from a nest.

âIâve never had a possum under the hood,â said Tim Laub, the owner of Laub Automotive, who emailed me photos of the homely, hissing creature that was towed to the complex.

An emergency call was made for assistance from a Hemet animal control officer, a service provided by the Ramona Humane Society under a contract with the city.

Laub was amazed by how she calmly faced the hissing male opossum with very sharp teeth.

âShe was great,â he said. âShe was relaxed. She stuck her head right down into the engine compartment. There were a dozen of us burly guys standing around, 12 feet away. It was hilarious. It was a little entertainment on a dull day.â

Using a noose on the end of a staff, she snared the opossum by his head, calmly grabbed the tail and dropped him into a cage.

The opossum apparently used the engine compartment of the disabled car as a den and was on board when it was towed.

Parsons released the opossum into an open west Hemet field. She said it is a good place to release captured wild animals because water is readily available.

Parsons has lots of practice catching opossums. She said she picks up opossums trapped alive by residents nearly every day. She said people often catch the opossums when they are trying to capture feral cats. They also catch them when they are considered a nuisance when they feast in vegetable gardens or simply are considered ugly. They are abundant in the San Jacinto Valley.

She said as long as they are healthy and can survive in the wild, they are released. If not, they are examined by a veterinarian and can be euthanized when sickly.

Parsons said that while opossums are much gentler than their reputation, she has respect for their sharp teeth. She said it is important to be relaxed when catching animals that can react aggressively when the sense nervousness.

She tells people that they are beneficial to the environment because they eat lots of bugs. She said their menacing hisses and the way they play dead are defense mechanisms.

âThey just look quite viscous,â Parsons said. âThey are pretty docile, for the most part.â

She said itâs best to simply leave opossums alone. Because they are wild animals, they shouldnât be fed or touched. She said captured babies should not be kept as pets.

âGod made them for a purpose and thatâs to be outside,â Parsons said.

I used to see opossum families at our back door at night when we lived in the Valle Vista citrus belt, east of Hemet. Some were a bit chewed up, which Parsons said likely was the result of attacks by dogs or cats. Their babies were cute, but not for long.

âThey are pretty cute when they are little, but definitely not when they are older,â Parsons said.

Contact Bob Pratte at bpratte@pe.com or 3400 Wentworth Drive, Hemet 92545. Find Bobâs blog at blog.pe.com/author/bobpratte and follow him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PE.BobPratte and Twitter: @bpratte

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